Mary J. Blige kicked off the second night of the Tribeca Film Festival with a screening of “The London Sessions” documentary followed by an energetic concert at New York City’s Beacon Theatre.

Blige’s brand of high-octane performance came in contrast to the muted, behind-the-scenes aspect of the documentary filming the album’s recording sessions. Blige’s 13th studio album, which was released in December, marked a return to the soul music that best serves her voice, this time with the help of several producers and writers based in London like Sam Smith, Emeli Sandé and electronic duo Disclosure.

“Disclosure is different,” she said in an interview. “They don’t do it so much for the publicity. They do it for the love like DJs used to do it. That’s what I love about them.” Read More »

Mainstream American audiences may not recognize his English accent over the radio, but Pete Tong’s name has been synonymous with dance music for the past two decades. As the host of his own show on BBC Radio 1 and co-producer of the station’s famed Essential Mix, he has been called everything from the ‘Pied Piper of House’ to the “global ambassador for electronic music.”

His guest roster reads like a who’s who in dance music, having interviewed and premiered tracks from the likes of Daft Punk, Paul Oakenfold, the Chemical Brothers, Sasha and Digweed, Swedish House Mafia and more recently, Disclosure. Tong has not only witnessed new trends develop; he has helped set them in motion. In many ways, Pete Tong has done — and continues to do — for dance music what Dick Clark did for rock and roll. Read More »

A few final thoughts on the first weekend of the 2014 edition of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival:

Much has been reported about issues that may somehow diminish Coachella, America’s premier rock and pop festival; among them: the lack of star power at the top of the bill; too much focus on music for young fans; an overabundance of electronic dance music; and the up-scaling of amenities.

It’s a tribute to Coachella and the organizers that this is all naysayers can grouse about – because they’re sidebar issues ultimately inconsequential to the success of a music festival that presents some 170 acts on six stages during the course of six days and nights on consecutive weekends. Coachella resumes tomorrow with the same lineup as last weekend. Read More »

Two weeks ago, actress and singer Patti LuPone grabbed a cell phone out of the hand of an audience member who was texting during a performance of her current play, "Shows for Days." The bold move led to an outpouring of support from fans fed up with glowing screens. Ms. LuPone gives us her five rules of theater etiquette.